make-a-wish... come true

back in december i volunteered to shoot a christmas party for the make-a-wish foundation in san diego. i was so inspired by the wish kids that i immediately offered my services to make-a-wish for some upcoming events where they might be able to use my abilities. i was thrilled to get a call back less than a week later with a request to help with a wish.
this wish was for brandy.
brandy was born with a congenital heart defect and has seen a lifetime of medical challenges by the age of 15, but still has a smile brighter than the las vegas strip. her wish was to celebrate (a little early) her 16th birthday with all of her friends and family, a la my super sweet 16, at the fabulous hotel del coronado. lindsay (brandy's wish coordinator) said that at the heart of brandy's wish, she wanted to have the time of her life, thank her family and friends for being so supportive, and feel pampered. all three of those things were achieved. this party was incredible!
kim and i were just two small niblets on this huge event corn cob. along with brandy and her family, we send out a massive mahalo to everyone that helped make brandy's wish come true. i hope i got everyone here:
wish fulfilling angels - make-a-wish
venue - hotel del coronado
hair and makeup - marinello schools of beauty
brandy's dress - betsey johnson
planning/coordination - the bridal bar
dj / izzy - wayne foster entertainment
videographer - eagle lion video
lounge rentals - kool party rentals
layout/design - wedding elegance by nahid
floral/decor - embellishments floral & event design studio
candy station - candee by sandee
invitations - dolldine designs
linens/lighting - indulge contemporary catering
floral/lighting - crown weddings
floral/decor - hartworks floral designs
photography - ohana photographers (hey, that's us!)
if i missed anyone that helped, please let me know. i don't want to leave anyone out. thanks everyone!
happy super sweet 16 brandy... and many more!

brandy looked absolutely beautiful for her party, but then again, doesn't she always.

brandy's mom gave everyone a huge surprise when she grabbed the mic and sang a song to brandy. it was a pretty sweet moment.

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check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283
or email: david@ohanaphotographers.com

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on a scale of one to bono, i'm...

on a scale of one to bono, i'm somewhere between a door greeter and a girl scout, but it feels good to give.
this is our thirst relief international - auction update.
wow. we did it!
together, we broke a record. all the mentors combined raised a record-breaking total $41,635.88!
after an epic bidding war kerri mcconnell won our auction by graciously donating $397 for thirst relief! kerri will be getting a bear hug and a big bag o sponsored goodies when we meet up with her to do our mentor session/ photo shoot.
the money raised from this auction will help thirst relief international save 8,327 lives by providing access to safe, clean drinking water.
whether you volunteered to be a mentor, bid on a mentor, sponsored a mentor, tweeted, facebooked, blogged, or simply told a friend about the auction, this would not have been possible without YOU. thank you all. we are so stoked to have been a part of this amazing experience. since this was our first time being a mentor for the thirst relief auction we had a bit of a learning curve, so i want to send a special thank you to our sponsors that stepped up HUGE for us with next to no time.
our sponsors are THE BEST!
flosites
flipside album designs
vision art
pixel 2 canvas
white house custom color
just because the auction is over don't feel like you have to wait until next year to help thirst relief. they need your support year-round. if you'd like to help click on over to the thirst relief international website and see what you can do to make a world of difference. there are far too many people on this planet that don't have the luxury of taking clean drinking water for granted.

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283
or email: david@ohanaphotographers.com

ohana photographers | ohana photographers blog | hawaii wedding photography | orange county wedding photography | los angeles wedding photography | wedding photographers | hawaii family photographer | orange county family photographer | los angeles family photographer

thirst relief mentor auction is ON NOW!!

give me a break
give me a break
break me off a piece of that...
...fan-cy feast? no
...foot-ball cream? no
...claude-van-damme? no, it's gotta rhyme with piece.
...thirst re-lief! :)
it's about saving lives. nailed it! the thirst relief mentor auction is going on right now! February 16th & 17th only! there are a grip of awesome photographers to bid on, so what are you waiting for ;)

what's it all about you ask?

it's about you growing as a photographer while saving lives!

i am so stoked to have been nominated to be a mentor for the 2010 Thirst Relief Mentor Auction! what an honor.

Thirst Relief International is responding to the worldwide water crisis by helping thousands of families each year gain access to safe water through simple, low-cost means. A locally manufactured biosand filter or a well repaired by nationals has the power to radically improve the health and well-being of an individual, a family, a community.
more than 1.1 billion people in our world lack access to safe drinking water. (UNICEF) living without this precious resource results in a host of preventable illnesses and even death. each year 2.5 million people die from diarrheal diseases, many of them caused by contaminated water. ninety percent of those deaths are children under age five. (World Health Organization)

Thirst Relief’s vision is simple yet profound—to save lives and change the world.


help me help you help them :)
bid on a mentoring session with your favorite photographer.

100% of the proceeds directly benefit Thirst Relief. add to that the incredible wisdom and talent that is being shared in the one-on-one mentor sessions and you have better and more successful photographers! it's truly a win win for everyone involved!

click the link here to go see all the mentors that are up for grabs.
************THIRST RELIEF MENTOR AUCTION****************
my head is spinning after looking at the company i'm keeping on the mentor list this year. so many insanely good photographers to choose from. help us all make a positive difference in the world.

along with getting that warm feeling inside that lets you know you did something good,
you'll get a 90 minute one-on-one mentor session with me, but wait, there's more!
just to sweeten the pot a little, the winning bidder of my auction also gets a tiny huge bonus pack of goodies.
for starters, if you are able to meet up with me in las vegas during wppi, i can arrange your mentor session to be a photo shoot in vegas with an uber fun and hot couple as our models.
if you like that sort of thing :)
and that's not all!
you'll also get the following insanely sweet swag from my awesome sponsors...
GRATIS! yep, FREE!
chris and jen at flipside album designs are hookin you up with a set of album design templates!
those will work perfectly to help you fill the 15 spreads in your
very own 10x10 or 9x12 album from vision art!
when you're done with all that fun send your favorite image to roxy at pixel 2 canvas and she'll send you a beautiful 20x24 canvas to hang on your wall!
there was one other thing. let me see. what was it? oh yeah...
you get 1/2 off the price of a crazy rad customized blog, HALF OFF! from ross at flosites!!
CRIPES!!
what are you waiting for people?!
get out your schrute bucks and...
GO!
BID!
NOW!

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283
or email: david@ohanaphotographers.com

ohana photographers | ohana photographers blog | hawaii wedding photography | orange county wedding photography | los angeles wedding photography | wedding photographers | hawaii family photographer | orange county family photographer | los angeles family photographer

when unicorns and narwhals collide...

SHAMELESS PLUGS HAPPEN! hello everyone! april needs a little support from anyone that will give it. this is her latest bit of artwork. she entered it into a contest and if it receives the most votes it will be made into a t-shirt or print that will be sold online at threadless t-shirts. maybe then she can start repaying some of those student loans :)
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if you'd like to help her out, please click the little picture below this one to jump over to their voting screen and slap a big ol number 5 on this. please also check if you'd like it as a shirt or print.
THANK YOU EVERYONE!
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CLICK THIS LITTLE GUY AND SAY "I GOT 5 ON IT!"<

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thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283
or email: david@ohanaphotographers.com

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honor, courage, commitment, and fashion

honor.
courage.
commitment.
these are the core values that define every member of the united states marine corps.
these are the words i look to for guidance, inspiration and hope in my own life.
one of these words has come to the forefront for our family over the past weeks.
courage.
the usmc website says that courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to face fear and overcome it.
we have much to be fearful of right now, but it is courage that will see us through these challenges.
it is the courage of all of you, our family and friends, that will steady us in these times of stress.
we can not thank you all enough for the love, support, and all the prayers you hands can make for our family.
just so you know, kim's dad is home again and we will be thankful for every moment we share with him from now until God calls him home.

life will go on, and does so at quite a swift pace.

as this year's wedding season lies in wait, we can not. we need distraction, if only for moments at a time, from the greater trials of life. commitment to our chosen profession works well in this capacity.
looking for something to help me recharge, i once again turned to the fashion industry for a bowl of inspiration soup.
i love that soup.
this san diego fashion photo session was for a dear friend of ours, tatiana zaykovskaya. she is an incredibly talented fashion designer that just graduated from the art institute of san diego and will soon be a huge name in the fashion industry. we wish you all the luck in the world tatiana! did you hear that? new york, london, paris, munich, and milan are calling you. :)
before i get to the images, i want to thank a few people for making this shoot awesome.
tatiana, of course, for being such a wonderful person and for making some of the most beautiful dresses i've ever seen but will never wear :) if anyone ever needs an awesome custom wedding dress, a custom bridesmaid dress, or any kind of dress at all, give tatiana a call. she really does amazing things with material.
the models, for making my "work" easy. i can't believe i just called it work.
the mom, for supporting her daughter, who i believe will be america's next top model by the way.
natalie dixon, for doing makeup that put the finishing touch on the girls and made them look even more beautiful than they already were.
alana d, for being super cool and for styling hair like no other.
the united states marine corps, for their honor, courage, commitment, and for letting us take photos next to some of the vintage aircraft that have served them.

now, on with the show. this first shot is of a custom wedding gown by tatiana zaykovskaya. it would look absolutely stunning even if it were on a rusty old coat hanger, but i'm glad we had kiersten to show it off. she looked incredible in this dress and had a crowd of cub scouts that were walking by trying not to trip over their own jaws.
this is my favorite shot of the day.

kim was out there shooting with me (shocker, right). this shot and the next one are my two favorites from her. good job lover :)

i can't talk about the marines without posting a scene from one of our favorite movies with marines. enjoy.

thank you for visiting our wedding photography blog
check out our portfolio.
contact us by phone at 858.663.3283 or email david@ohanaphotographers.com

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